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This article bears out what we hear directly from the students when in the schools. They are fed up to the back teeth with sex ed — what they want is relationship training. These young people comment regularly that they want to learn about the whole relationship ie conflict resolution, negotiating on what is appropriate for their relationship. One young girl in Yr 9 commented that she would like to know how to budget and how to shop and cook for a week’s worth of family meals.

Further, young people say that “no-one expects them not to have sex and ‘everyone’ expects that they will have sex” whilst at school and particularly at Schoolies. Sometimes they feel pressured to fulfill that expectation — frequently to their detriment. They comment that they feel let down by the older generation who they feel are a little sex-mad.

Perhaps it is time a “worth waiting for” program was backed by the government and education departments — a program that elevates a young person’s feeling of their worth, rather than reducing them to something akin to a basic animal instinct.

A number of comments are very concerning re this article. The main thrust of feeling is that it is all too hard for Ms Dunn to continue to care for her son as evidenced by the comment that she no longer visits her son as it is “too distressing” for her. As we know from those who have recovered, people in a coma know and understand what is going on around them and can hear. No doubt it gives Mr Leigep a warm feeling to know his mother puts her own feelings above his and no longer visits him.

A further comment that is rather curious is that Mark “talked about it all the time” — the ‘it’ being wishing to die rather than “live like a vegetable”. One has to wonder why a previously normal adult male would “talk all the time” about dying and what to do if he became incapacitated. Seems there are echos of Michael Schiavo’s comments in relation to his wife Terri’s conversations that supposedly ran along a similar vein. (www.terrisfight.org)

The article states that due to the malfunction of an incubator to ‘hatch’ children, several embryos have died. It goes on to say that one woman broke down and “cried for several hours” upon learning she had lost all but one embryo. Whilst we have the utmost compassion for this woman, one can’t but help wonder would she have been as upset handing over any ‘leftover’ embryos for experimentation or just like in abortion when they (the unborn babies/unused embryos) are not wanted, do they suddenly lose their human value?

Some very positive research about teen mums has been presented by Professor Julie Quinlivan – and bears out what we have seen in relation to young ladies becoming parents whilst still in their teens. It changes the focus from “me-centred” to “other-centred” ie the baby. Because young mums have someone else to focus on, the majority of these young mums become more responsible about themselves, their sexual behaviour, their drinking and smoking.

What is proposed by Professor Quinlivan to help these young women be affirmed in their new life path is welcomed - a teen-specific antenatal clinic, sustained home visits by a nurse until the child is aged two and peri-preschool learning for the child. Because of this support these young women would become even more confident in their role as mothers which in turn will produce well-adjusted children.

When a young women is pressured or sucked into the lie of abortion being the only way to cope with an unexpected pregnancy, she will not have this opportunity to find and develop those inner strengths and better way of living.